The curriculum in the Master of Science in Health Administration covers a broad spectrum of essential learning and encompasses the technical and behavioral competencies defined by the Health Leadership Competency Model and developed by the National Center for Healthcare Leadership.
Saint Joseph's University's online Master's in Health Administration curriculum offers multiple concentrations so that you can customize your degree to meet your personal and professional goals, including:
General – Gain a comprehensive view of health administration. You'll explore healthcare law, financial management, ethics, and more, and graduate ready to excel in a variety of health administration positions. The curriculum is 36 credit hours taken across 12 courses.
Informatics – Explore the intricacies of health information management systems and graduate with a specialized, in-demand skill set that is becoming essential to health care system success. This curriculum is 42 credit hours taken across 14 courses.
Organization Development and Leadership (ODL)– Sharpen your leadership skills while building your knowledge of organizational development, culture, teams, and more. You'll graduate ready to manage change and enhance health system performance. The curriculum is 42 credit hours taken across 14 courses.
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Core Courses - All Concentrations (Required)
HAD 552 Health Administration
3 credits. An introduction to the principles of administration within health and human services organizations and the basic concepts of leadership and organizational theories relevant to effective administration of healthcare institutions. Organizations are viewed as open systems requiring constant interactions with the environment. Considerable emphasis is placed on quality improvement and organizational change.
HAD 553 Health Care Organization
3 credits. An overview of the organization, structure, and financing of the healthcare delivery system in the United States. The various elements comprising the system will be presented, along with an exploration of the basic concepts and measures of health, disease, needs, quality, and utilization. Issues in healthcare resourcing, institutions, and system organization will be examined.
HAD 554 Health Care Law
3 credits. An examination of the major legal issues encountered in the health care field by administrators and practitioners. Among the topics to be included are principles of liability, legal aspects of medical ethics, and legislative and regulatory factors in healthcare delivery.
HAD 555 Accounting for Health Care Organizations
3 credits. An introduction to basic accounting techniques used in the healthcare industry. Prerequisites: 3 of the following courses: HAD 552, HAD 553, HAD 600, HSV 550, or HSV 551.
HAD 556 Financial Management of Health Care Organizations
3 credits. An introduction to the basic theories and practices of financial management as they relate to healthcare organizations. Course includes budgeting principles. Prerequisites: HAD 552, HAD 553, HAD 600, HSV 550, and HSV 551.
HAD 560 Health Care Informatics
3 credits. A survey of the current use of information technology in the clinical and management practice for the healthcare delivery enterprise. Students will become familiar with the basic terminology, strategies, and utilization of IT as a key component in the delivery of patient care. Prerequisites: HAD 552, HAD 553, HAD 600, HSV 550, and HSV 551.
HAD 600 Ethics of Health Care
3 credits. A critical examination of the central ethical issues in the health care field. Issues to be treated include euthanasia, life-prolonging medical technologies, abortion, screening for genetic defects, experimentation and informed consent, distribution of scarce medical resources, the right to healthcare, and its implications for the healthcare delivery system. Necessary background in moral philosophy will be provided.
HSV 550 Health Services Research
3 credits. Explores the history of health research, basic principles, and types of research in order that health professionals will be able to critically evaluate research in their respective fields. This course is a combination of lecture, discussion, and experiential learning designed to instill a critical understanding of the research process for application to clinical practice.
HSV 551 Managed Health Care
3 credits. This course is an introduction to managed care including current and evolving models, terminology, and differences among insurers and payer types. The course will focus on the use of financial incentives to restrain healthcare costs and the role of utilization review, peer review, provider.
HSV 700 Integrative Course in Health Services
3 credits. An integrative capstone course in which the student is expected to integrate and synthesize prior course work and to demonstrate competence in health services through the analysis of complex cases in health services delivery and management and the development of a case of his/her own based on experience and observation. This should be the final course in the curriculum. Prerequisites: HAD 552, HAD 553, HAD 555, HAD 556, HAD 560, HAD 600, HSV 550, HSV 551, and HSV 554.
General Concentration Electives (Choose 2)
HAD 559 Health Policy
3 credits. The formulation and analysis of health policy at federal, state, local, and corporate levels. This course presents an overview of the legislative, regulatory, and political processes and their effect on the health care system. This course will provide a conceptual and analytic framework for bioethical policy analysis regarding policy formulation, adoption, implementation, operation, evaluation, and termination. Pragmatic application of policy analysis tools is included.
HAD 561 Health Care and the Internet
3 credits. Examination of the specific roles that internet technology plays in healthcare. Observations and trends that play a significant role in improving the quality of healthcare delivery will be discussed. Various components such as intranets, extranets, knowledge management, and web design concepts will be explored.
HAD 564 Computer-Based Patient Record (CPR)
3 credits. An in-depth analysis of the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) standards, requirements, attributes, and benefits of the CPR and its use in the healthcare delivery enterprise. The use of data warehouses, data repositories, and integration technology will be explored relevant to CPR development along with the various issues and strategies for implementation.
HED 552 Epidemiology and Community Health
3 credits. An introductory course exploring the basic concepts of epidemiology as a public health science, including rates and ratios, risk and association, causation and investigation of outbreak.
Informatics Concentration Courses (Choose 4)
HAD 561 Health Care and the Internet
3 credits. Examination of the specific roles that internet technology plays in healthcare. Observations and trends that play a significant role in improving the quality of healthcare delivery will be discussed. Various components such as intranets, extranets, knowledge management, and web design concepts will be explored.
HAD 562 Health Information Management Systems Data and Infrastructure
3 credits. Analysis and case study of IT networks, internets, data interchange, data access, and data management. Prerequisite: for Healthcare Informatics students only and HAD 560 is preferred.
HAD 563 Health Information Management Systems Applications
3 credits. Case study of the foundation and incorporation of the critical IT applications in the modern healthcare delivery enterprise. Specific applications will be explored with an emphasis placed on the practice of Managed Care.
HAD 564 Computer-Based Patient Record (CPR)
3 credits. An in-depth analysis of the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) standards, requirements, attributes, and benefits of the CPR and its use in the healthcare delivery enterprise. The use of data warehouses, data repositories, and integration technology will be explored relevant to CPR development along with the various issues and strategies for implementation.
Organization Development and Leadership Concentration Courses (Choose 4)
ODL 650 Organizational Leadership
3 credits. This course provides a foundation for leadership competencies and characteristics necessary for guiding organizations. Students will use self-awareness tools grounded emotional intelligence developed especially for organizational leaders. Students will deepen their understanding of traditional and contemporary leadership research, theories and practices; and, explore the organizational contexts where work, management and leadership happen. Students will examine the responsibility that comes with leadership through readings, lectures, small group interactions and an online self- development process. This foundational course provides the framework for other online course work by establishing a community of learners.
ODL 655 Organizational Change and Culture
3 credits. Studying an organization’s culture is essential to any successful change effort. This course will enable students to study organizational theories, systems thinking, and the relationship between cultural issues and successful change implementation. They will experiment with taking on the role of a change agent through simulations, case studies, and studying the culture and changes in their own work place.
ODL 665 Leading Teams
3 credits. A big part of organizational life takes place in groups. This course focuses on theories of group dynamics and development and the application to team membership and leadership. Facilitating teams, assessing the development of a team, influencing groups, group roles and group decision-making processes and the dynamics of creating effective virtual teams will all be explored. Students will work in teams in this class and will integrate class learning with their work experience on teams.
ODL 700 Organizational Development: Theory & Application
3 credits. Course presents an overview of the fundamental components of organization development. Case studies are discussed and analyzed to demonstrate the fundamental components of OD. Practical skills and approaches are studied, such as change techniques and strategies, influence methods in dealing with leaders and consulting/learning models. Focus of course helps students implement successful learning or change programs in their organization. Topics of discussion include developing sponsorship, action research methods, survey feedback approaches, and dealing with conflict. Prerequisites: ODL 650 and 655 or Permission from Director.
To learn more about the online Master of Science in Health Administration from Saint Joseph's University and what it can do for your career, call (215) 473-2695 to speak with a Program Manager or you can request more information below and we'll reach out to you.
